Tag Archives: London marathon

Man raises thousands as workmates sponsor him to listen to other workmates’ marathon stories

London MarathonAn astonishing display of self-sacrifice saw a BT worker raise £79,000 for charity after being sponsored to listen to other workmates’ London marathon stories.

Dunstable engineer Stephen Guy said he conceived the audacious plan a year ago after observing fellow workmates losing the will to live as they listened to runners they sponsored recount their marathon at a pace considerably slower than real time. One workmate’s comment ‘I sponsored him 10 quid to run the race but I’d gladly pay 100 quid if he stopped talking about it’ particularly struck a chord.
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Tragedy after fancy dress marathon runner turns out to be actual escaped gorilla

Violent, but does a lot of great work for charity

London Marathon organisers were left red-faced today after an escaped gorilla, whom everyone assumed was a runner in fancy dress, went berserk and killed 15 people.

The gorilla, an impressive male silverback named Kumbuka, was the pride of London Zoo’s “Gorilla Kingdom” until an inexperienced keeper forgot to close a security gate.

Kumbuka somehow made his way to Greenwich Park, where thousands of contestants were preparing for the start of the marathon, and inevitable disaster ensued.

“It seems that this magnificent gorilla may have got enraged after stumbling into a huge crowd,” explained Evening Harold sports correspondent Piers Waghorn.

“That, and the fact that someone pinned a great paper number onto his chest.”

In the turmoil that followed, race sponsor Richard Branson had his head ripped clean from his body, but this was soon followed by genuine tragedy after several real people were killed.

Celebrity father David Furnish was among those who narrowly escaped, in a three-man pantomime horse costume, the other occupants of which we are sadly unable to report on.

To make matters worse, police marksmen proceeded to shoot the wrong gorilla with a tranquilliser gun, leading to the near-certain closure of a Dunstable day centre due to lost sponsorship money.

Looking on the bright side, Kumbuka ended up finishing the marathon in a highly respectable time of 3:18:27, shortly after Dame Kelly Holmes, but just seconds in front of the pursuing David Attenborough and his tiring film crew.

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Running the London Marathon? Villagers from Harold give you their tips for completing the jog.

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This year will again see villagers from Harold travelling to the capital city to take part in this year’s London Marathon. The course, which is 26 miles and 385 yards (or 36.232 Hectares in European), is a leisurely jog through the streets of the city going past many famous landmarks such as Tower Bridge, the Bullring shopping centre and the SS Great Britain.

Here at the Evening Harold we admire those that take part in the jog, but as most of us were the last to be picked in any sport at school due to our impressively consistent lack of any fitness, we would rather stay in bed watching childrens’ cartoons.
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London marathon’s security assured as thousands of super-heroes set to run

2004 Flora London MarathonLondon marathon organiser, Dave Bedford, says he is confident this year’s event will be trouble-free after making it mandatory for all runners to be dressed as super-heroes and crime fighters.

“We should have at least 10,000 Supermen, many thousands of Batman and Robins, and a similar number of Spidermen” said Bedford.

“And with over 17,000 women runners expected to run as Wonder Woman, I’d be surprised if any villain would be able to concentrate long enough to get up to no good.”

Bedford says the varied skills of the super-heroes will make it impossible for evil to prevail.

“The super- heroes’ x-ray vision and supersonic hearing means potential evil-doers will be quickly spotted, and the many phone boxes on route will help ensure a rapid response.”

“Try any funny business and the malcontent will be captured in a spider’s web and then restrained between Wonder Woman’s lithe, yet powerful, thighs – oh my, I think I need a lie down.”
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London marathon to be conducted by public transport

BusOrganisers have sprung a surprise by announcing that all competitors in Sunday’s London marathon will have to complete the run by double decker bus, in a move inspired by pioneering British bus marathoner Rob Sloan.

Race director Dave Bedford justified the move saying, “it will reduce congestion on the course, virtually eliminate dehydration and injuries, and simplify logistics as we expect all the buses to arrive at the finish at the same time.”

Mr Bedford points out that the essence of the event is still being maintained.

“The buses will take runners from the start line and drive them 26 miles to a short finishing chute whereupon it will be a mad dash to the finish line. Throughout the race, the windows of the buses will be kept shut which should ensure all runners get a sweat up. Diehards can jog on the spot in the aisle if they so choose.”
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